The Turning of Fate
by CuddlyPsyche
Summary: Izaya's got a new plan for causing chaos in Ikebukuro. The peace in the city shatters. Shizuo is framed for a murder - and faces an inevitable fate. The wheels of fate are turning, pulling Mikado and friends into another tragedy. Once again they'll have to face the darkness of the city & their own fears. T for language & violence,mostly later. Shizu's vocabulary is so colorful.
1. Chaos begins again: Intro

Hiya everyone~ This is my first story on the site. It's going to be pretty big I think, with lots of chapters! I wanted to make my first fic with the anime Durarara! because it's my fave anime EVAH. Color gangs, a headless dullahan, demon swords, all these different plots weaving together up 'til the very end - that's what inspires me about this anime. It just makes me want to write (and make AMVS) with it. So, if you're reading this and you haven't seen it, SHAME. You'll be spoiled by the spoilerific fic, but even so I still want everyone to read it.

There's not much else I can say. Just that I picked Mikado as the main character because most of this is centered around him, as well as the fate of Shizuo in later chapters. (I'm evil to my characters, is all I can say.) This is just the first chapter, I have a few more in Word but I'm still polishing them up.

I'll stop talking now. Read, all you awesome readers. And review this stuff.

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The Turning of Fate

Ch 1 - Chaos begins Again

It was just another day in Ikebukuro. The city hummed with life. The Black Rider continued to do her jobs, riding through the city and causing everyone to stop and stare. Even those that saw the Black Rider every day couldn't help but look at her pass. It was a pitch-black and silent bike, ridden by a woman with nothing but black smoke swirling inside her unique helmet.

Things were the same. Unchanging. Normalcy pursued the ones who lived here, though the city still hid its secrets. Secrets that lurked in the shadows, always waiting… waiting for those that would pry too deeply. No one knew these secrets better than Mikado Ryugamine and his friends, who had stared straight into the face of the city's darkness.

Though everyone continued on as normal, there were some things that changed. Like Masaomi disappearing along with Saki. Mikado still talked with him in the chatroom, but he never found out exactly where he went. All he knew was the Masaomi had left Tokyo entirely. It was strange not having him around, not walking home with him and Anri and listening to his obnoxious flirting.

Anri and Mikado still walked together after school. Masaomi had always managed to break the ice and the silences between them, but as time passed since he left, the two of them had to learn to bridge that gap themselves. The awkwardness between them disappeared, and soon they were talking and laughing like they never had before. They were even dating now. Still, there was always that feeling of something missing.

It had been two years. They were in their senior year of high school now. The school was the most unchanging out of everything. All that really changed there was that Takushi, the creepy teacher that always tried to molest Anri had quit his job and left Ikebukuro. It was a good thing, too, because Mikado wasn't sure if he could stand up to him like Masaomi had.

Izaya was still jumping from Shinjuku to Ikebukuro, still causing trouble wherever he could. Shizuo still chased him, causing endless property damage that the city mysteriously ignored. Mikado saw them occasionally. Sometimes he just heard Shizuo screaming at Izaya and saw something large flying across the streets. It always reminded him of his first day in Ikebukuro, when he saw a flying man and a flying vending machine. Shizuo's strength was crazy.

Other than that, he tried to stay away from Izaya, besides talking to him on the chat. Once he found out that pretty much all the bad things that happened to them had something to do with him, he did his best to stay out of his path. It bugged him that he was still in Ikebukuro. It meant that he still had something to do here, and that made him uneasy.

That was one of the many dark secrets that were still undiscovered. Celty had finally given up on her head. It was no longer important to her. She had realized something else that was more precious to her, more than the century worth of memories that she had hunted after for so long. It was Shinra. Celty was satisfied with her life now, and was finally at peace with herself.

However, that wasn't going to last for much longer. Izaya still had Celty's head. All this time he was setting up a new struggle, hoping to awaken Celty as a valkyrie. It was his theory that if he created a war that he could win the head he had in his possession would finally open its eyes. It was one of his morbid 'hobbies', one that he had stuck with longer than any other. His previous attempts had failed, but he was determined to make it work this time.

"It won't be long before everything will be in place, and the sparks will start to fly again," he said with a smile, lounging on his couch. He was speaking more to himself than Namie who was sitting at the desk, still doing most of his work. She hated working for him, but her section of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals had collapsed since the human experiments were discovered by the cops. Izaya had agreed to help hide her from the police (who were still searching for everyone involved) as long as she worked for him.* She frowned at the pile of papers next to the computer screen. She hated him.

"The only problem right now is Shizu-chan. I never would have expected it, but he is starting to make things difficult…" He looked over to the flatscreen, which was displaying one of the Tokyo news channels. They were talking about a string of supposedly-related crimes in Western Tokyo. "I suppose I could frame him again. It won't be hard, it never is. He has quite a history."

"Isn't he the Shizuo guy with anger-management issues that always tries to kill you?" wondered Namie as she moved files from one pile to others. She didn't understand why he didn't just put all of this on his computer himself. It would be so much easier to work with. Maybe he kept it like this to mess with her. After all, he was an informant, and he was on his computer a lot. Still, she had no say in what she had to do. This annoyed her to no end.

"That's the one… Hey, Namie. Can you do me a favor?" he asked.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" she grumbled.

"Smart girl. I'm going back to Ikebukuro for a bit. I need you to stay here and handle things while I'm gone. I've got some more pawns to place," he said. He stood up and stretched. "Have fun~," he said to Namie before he left.

"Sure," she said bitterly, after he had left. "I'd have more fun kicking your ass."

And so, the chaos begins again. The wheels of fate turn and threaten to upset this era of peace that had settled on the world. Izaya grinned as he walked down the street, almost skipping. "This'll be quite enjoyable, won't it, Shizu-chan?" He said with a laugh, even though the violent man in the bartender getup was nowhere to be seen.

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*I have no idea why Namie started working for Izaya in the first place, so I just made the Yagiri Pharmaseutical bit up. I must've missed that part when I was watching the anime - I only noticed that she started working for him.

This is short. It's kind of a prologue. Izaya talking about his plans here is like a little intro leading up to everything that happens later in the story.


	2. Disaster: Mikado

Here's the chapter where the real story begins~ The way I'm doing this story is that each chapter will have a focus on one character, kind of like the anime where it switches perspectives. Even though I'll be switching between characters a lot the underlying plot will always be the same.

Please review this chapter. I worked hard on this one to build the suspense. Enjoy!

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Ch 2: Disaster (Mikado)

"See you later, Mikado," Anri called from across the street.

"Have a good night," he replied with a wave.

It had just been another regular day at Raira Academy. They had a huge test coming up next week, and Mikado hadn't really been paying attention in class. These days he was always up late on that chatroom. He always ended up too exhausted to really focus. He figured he should try and do some studying tonight, but a few minutes after he had sat down on the floor of his crappy apartment with some of his schoolbooks, his phone began beeping madly. He reached over and flipped it open. The Dollars website had just exploded with posts.

"They're saying Shizuo just went on a rampage!"

"Isn't he always on a rampage?"

"Well, yeah, but this was different. He attacked some schoolgirls."

"The people that were there said that the girls didn't even say anything to him, or even look at him!"

"Be careful what you say, guys. We know Shizuo is part of the Dollars."

"What if he hunts us down?"

"We'd be thrown into space."

"Did the girls get hurt bad?"

"They say one of them died."

"Shizuo wouldn't kill someone! He's an angry guy, but he's not a killer."

Mikado recognized the screen name as Celty. _She's right. What everyone's saying doesn't make sense._

"Where did it happen?" Mikado typed.

"Near Sunshine and 60 Story."

"They've got the whole area blocked off!"

"The cops are on the hunt for him right now."

_I guess I'm not getting a chance to study tonight, _he thought. He got up and grabbed his coat, scattering books all over the floor. As he walked down the steps from his apartment to the street, he heard the half-horse half-machine sound of Celty's bike. She appeared around the corner and screeched to a halt once she saw him.

"_Are you going to the crime scene?"_ she asked through her PDA. When he nodded, she typed, _"Get on."_

The motorcycle glided silently through the city. It wasn't too far, and they were there within a few minutes. The area was surrounded by yellow tape that read 'Keep out'. Mikado recognized Saburo's van parked nearby. Kadota and Saburo were leaning against it, while Walker and Erika were in front of the tape trying to get a better look.

Celty stopped the bike and the two of them went over to Kadota. "What are you guys doing here?" Mikado asked.

"Well, we're here because the two manga freaks wanted to come. They said it was like something out of one of their books. Even so, we probably would've come here anyway. We like to be where the action is."

"_So what happened?"_ Celty typed.

"Well, as of a few minutes ago, Shizuo Hawejima has been arrested. I don't believe what everyone's saying. Over time he's gotten more control over himself… but from what the cops said, he'll probably be going to prison."

"Prison?" Mikado was shocked.

"Yeah. They said that all the property damage he's caused in 'bukuro ain't going to help him any."

"_I know it couldn't be him. Who would do this?"_ Celty typed. Mikado could sense her anger in the way she shoved the PDA in Kadota's face.

"I don't know. But whenever bad stuff happens, it's normally that asshole Izaya's doing. I've heard that the last time Shizuo got in big trouble with the cops, it was him who framed him."

_So Izaya's on the move again. What's he up to now? _Mikado thought.

The roar of Celty's motorcycle pierced his thoughts. He turned to see the motorcycle leaping over the yellow tape with Celty. It flew smoothly over the barricade beyond, jumping over it like a horse. The two manga freaks squealed in excitement as she passed by. Just like that, she was gone.

"That's reckless," Kadota said. "They have cops all over the place past that wall… Hey kid! Wait!"

Mikado ran past Walker and Erika, slipping under the yellow tape. There were a few walls of concrete, also surrounded with tape. There was space between them, but not enough to fit through. Where there wasn't walls, there was heavy chain-link fence.

_What are they trying to hide? This is ridiculous._ Mikado looked around for a way to get through. The fences had barbed wire, and the barricade was a flat wall with no hope of climbing over. He stood there for a moment, searching, wondering what to do. Everything after happened so fast. Tires screeched to his left and then the back of a van collided with the wall. He heard Saburo cry out. Kadota and Saburo were still standing where the van had once been, looking shocked. The back half of the van had crumpled like a can that had been stepped on.

Walker poked his head out the window. "Try this," he said with a grin.

"Thanks," Mikado said. Then he climbed over the front hood of the car, past the pair grinning in excitement through the windshield, and was just able to clear the wall from the top of the van. Before swinging his legs down, Kadota yelled to him, "I wouldn't do that! If they're doing that much to hide whatever is going on, it won't be safe past that wall."

_I don't care, _he thought. _I need to know what's going on. Celty just ran right in, not even explaining what she was going to do. Besides, I'm not going to just sit around when something this huge happens._

He wondered when he had gotten so brave, why he didn't lose confidence in the face of this fear. Then he jumped down, rolling so he wouldn't hurt himself. Past that point, the street expanded beyond, with a few cop cars flashing their lights by the sides of the road. Most of the lights and the craziness seemed to be going on farther down the street. Then he saw where Celty was. A jagged claw of black shot up, like a bolt of black lightning coming from the ground. The shadowy lightning writhed in the air above the flashing lights, then shot off in several directions towards the ground.

"She's getting crazy," he muttered. _Something's really wrong._

He took off running. The first few police cars on the street were sitting there idly with their lights shining but with no cops inside. It seemed like all of them had rushed over to where Celty was. As he got closer, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a dark shape crouched on a rooftop, staring down into the commotion. When Mikado stopped and tried to see who it was, the person walked away from the roof's edge and disappeared.

A police officer appeared from between two idle cop cars with a pistol. He shouted, "Stop!" at Mikado. Mikado could see the outline of Celty's body in front of the bright lights. Snakelike shadows extended from all around her, unaffected by the setting sun. With a sweep of her hand, one of the shadows shot back towards them, knocking the gun out of the officer's hand and throwing it almost all the way back down the road. The man blinked at his empty hand dumbly, then shook himself out of it and started walking towards him again.

"This is secret police business that we're handling here. It's for the security of Tokyo, standing against the crimes and murders that happen here," the cop said in a deep, commanding voice.

Mikado remembered hearing something about a sudden rise in criminal activity, and lots of murders. It was a huge deal, but whatever it was hadn't extended to Ikebukuro yet. At least, he hadn't heard about it until now...

He didn't know what to do. Celty was surrounded by police. Even when she was angry, she still couldn't put murderous intent behind her shadow scythe. It was the only reason why she hadn't really hurt anyone while she was here. She was too good a person to survive against so many opponents.

_What have I gotten myself into? _Mikado wondered. The police officer crept closer, a tazer in his hand that was already sparking. The cops rushed in on Celty. The motorcycle cops sped onto the scene between two buildings, their eyes fierce and unafraid. Celty didn't scare them. They scared her.

_Should I go back…?_ He was really starting to feel afraid now. _Shouldn't we run?_

Celty's shadow blades spun and twisted through the night. They touched the stars with their inky blackness. They waved around angrily, always displaying the mood of their user. Then suddenly, the shadows shrunk back, and Mikado saw Celty fall. The motorcycle next to her screamed out, the sound morphing from an engine revving to a horse's screech. He saw hooves reach up to the sky, and then he blacked out.

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Oh noes, what will happen to Mikado and Celty? You'll have to find out. Next chapter will be from Masaomi's POV. Read on my fellow fanfic viewers & writers! =^.^=


	3. The Lion's Den: Masaomi

This may seem really soon to already be putting up my third chapter, but I've been working on this lil fic even before I joined the site. I actually have up to chapter 7 on my computer. I have to look over them though, before I put them up. I have this terrible perfectionist mentality -.-" So, I made sure Chapter 3 looked right and uploaded it. There was going to be a Kida chapter sooner or later. He is one of my favorite characters after all~

Keep reading, awesome readers! And review if you can. Here's my little youtube saying - 'I feed off your loving comments. Om nom nom.' ^.^

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Ch 3: The Lion's Den (Masaomi)

He was always on the phone. The annoying beeping sounds got crazier at night, and it kept her up sometimes. She never mentioned it to him though. She didn't want him to think that it was bothering her, because that chatroom was his only connection to the life he had once lived. It comforted him, and she didn't want to take that away.

He was sitting on the couch, watching the Tokyo news. Something seemed to be bothering him today. Saki sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Masaomi?"

"Hm?"

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he lied. He was always like that. If something was bugging him, he kept it to himself.

"Don't lie. I know you. You're upset."

She turned to the TV. It was talking about the huge section of Ikebukuro that had been barricaded off due to a murder case that they believed to be connected to other recent crimes throughout Tokyo. They didn't reveal much, but they did mention what area had been blocked off.

"By Sunshine…" he muttered. She looked at him again, to see him frowning.

_That's minutes away from Mikado's apartment, _he thought. He had a bad feeling. Without thinking, he dug in his pocket and brought out his phone. Saki watched him sign into the chat.

(No one is online)

His frown deepened. He knew who everyone was on the chat now. Mikado, Celty, and Izaya were all gone. That normally didn't happen. He switched over to the Dollars website, which he had joined after he left Tokyo. He had asked Mikado to give him the password. It was just another way to stay connected for him. The forum pretty much covered everything that happened in Ikebukuro. He scrolled through the posts, skimming over the newest ones and going back to the older ones.

Then he saw the posts about Shizuo. He read through it and stopped once he saw Mikado's one post.

"Where did it happen?"

He disappeared from the rest of the conversation. From that night to this morning, Mikado had not posted one thing. It had only been one-and-a-half days, so he knew he shouldn't be worried. It was strange though. Last night, he never saw the words, (Taro Tanaka has come online).

"He's probably been busy," Saki said. Kida had forgotten she was there. "It's only been a day, right? So don't worry."

"Sure…" he said. He hoped she was right. The sound of the TV throbbed in his ears. He heard the Black Rider mentioned. They said that she had appeared and scared some tourists with her shadows. One of those tourists had already been attacked in one of the incidents in the other parts of Tokyo. He could tell a lie when he heard one, and he knew instantly that it wasn't the whole truth. The police were hiding things from the public like always.

_What was it? What really happened? Why do I have this bad feeling?_

"Stop worrying about it. It makes me sad to see your face like that," Saki said. "Just come back to reality. We're here, and we're living a great life. We shouldn't be letting spooky stories on the news freak us out. All that matters is that we're here and we're happy." She kissed him, trying to snap him out of it. While she did, she slid the remote out of his hand and switched the TV off. The silence afterwards was calming.

Saki continued to comfort him, continued to tell him that everything was alright, but everyday he got tenser. It had been a week now and he had not heard anything from Mikado or Celty. The chatroom wasn't as fun to be in when it was just Izaya. Once Izaya got wind of his concern for Mikado, he began to mess with him and taunt him with all these horrible possibilities. Typical Izaya. He loved to mess with people's feelings and draw out their pain. Kida began to log on just to check for Celty or Mikado and then log off when Izaya signed in.

He knew that Izaya probably knew what was going on. He always knew. Even when Kida tried to get information out of him, he wouldn't mention much. The Tokyo news channel still buzzed with the recent occurrences, but they only revealed very tiny bits of information. The police had their knowledge locked up tight. Even the channels began to question the police's strange behavior, though they didn't delve any further.

After a couple more days, the chat went silent again.

(No one is online.)

(No one is online.)

One night after that week had passed, Kida called Mikado. There was no answer. The phone rang until it couldn't ring any more and then went to voicemail. He sat on his bed with the phone in his hands, looking blankly at the carpet. Saki came in after a moment and stood in front of him.

"Masaomi, I don't like seeing you like this. If it's bugging you so much, why don't you just go back?" she asked.

"You know I can't," he said.

"And why not?"

"Horoda and his group all got busted, but there's still people there I want to avoid," he said.

"Like Izaya?" It wasn't a question, more of a statement. She already knew the answer.

"Izaya is always causing bad things to happen. He's always planning something evil, something that ruins people's lives and causes struggles. As long as he's alive and in Ikebukuro, that place won't be safe for either of us."

He didn't tell Saki about his other concern. If Saki went back with him to Ikebukuro, she might be caught up in Izaya's influence again. Her devotion to him was so strong back then. Of course it had gotten better now, but there was always that chance that he would put her under his spell again. She would become his pawn again. Everyone that stepped onto the scene of Izaya's games were under his control, even him. He was afraid, plain and simple.

"You're running away again," she said. Those words shocked him, shot right through him like a jolt of electricity. She knew how much those words could upset him but she said it anyway.

Her eyes met his, unwavering and serious. That flat stare shattered his anger. "No… I'm not," he whispered.

"Even if it causes you pain, you still run and hide. I don't understand it. If you're afraid for your friend, you should go and check if he's okay. It won't leave you alone until you go, so why wait?" Her voice had lost its cold edge, going back to the voice of reason he knew.

He glanced at his phone, which was open to the chatroom on the end table. He saw Izaya's orange text, trying to get his attention. He flipped the phone shut. "You're right. I might as well get this over with, huh?"

"That's the spirit," she said with a smile. "I'll stay here… that's what you want, right?"

"Promise me you'll stay safe. Don't draw attention to yourself when I'm not around."

"Just shut up and stop worrying. Hurry up and do whatever you have to do so you can get back to me," she said. She hugged him tightly. "Now let me tell you. Be safe. I love you."

"I love you too."

That night Masaomi Kida boarded a plane headed for Ikebukuro. It had been a long time since he had last been there. He had changed a lot, so maybe the city had changed a lot too. He wondered how everyone was doing, like Kadota, Saburo, and the two with the anime obsession, Walker and Erika. He wondered how the Black Rider was. He had heard some scary stuff about her on the news, but Saki had turned off the TV before he could hear more. No matter what the news said about her, it was all lies - he knew that the real Black Rider was a good person.

He thought about what Raira might be like now. It was something that hardly ever changed over the years, so it would probably be the same. The school he was going to now was like a whole different world. He lived in the country now, where gang wars and rushed city life seemed like a dream. It reminded him of the world he lived in before he transferred to Tokyo; that little town that he and Mikado grew up in together. Tokyo had been okay in his time there, for the most part. Now he was satisfied with the countryside world, where rice patches, fields, and wilderness stretched for miles, unbroken except for small towns.

Now he was headed back to the lion's den, where Izaya Orihara cleverly controlled the city in his invisible ways. No one expected that every small crime, every strange coincidence and chance, was influenced by one man. Only a few people had a chance to look straight into the heart of the city. Only a few were able to see the dots connecting around him. Kida, Mikado, Anri, and Celty had all seen Izaya in the center of the web, controlling the threads of everyone's lives like a puppeteer. Once Kida arrived in Ikebukuro, he would be caught up in the web too. Everything that happened to him there would probably be Izaya weaving him into the morbid story of his creation.

He suddenly felt very tired. It was like those thoughts were sucking the life out of him. He leaned his head back against the headrest of the seat. After moments of drifting thoughts and shadows of dreams, he fell into true sleep. His rest was dreamless.

* * *

So there you have it! Masaomi's return. There was no way I was going to leave him in the middle of nowhere and not put him back in Ikebukuro. I thought it would be fitting that worrying about Mikado would make him come back. However, things are not going to turn out all peachy when he comes back~

Next chapter will be from Celty's POV. You'll finally get to know what really happened that night with Mikado. Now aren't you excited.

Psyche, out!


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